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Red Sonja
Red Sonja is a sword-and-sorcery character created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for American comic books published by Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. A warrior from the Hyborian Age of Earth-616, she was often partnered with Conan the Barbarian.
Marvel Comics published stories featuring Red Sonja until 1986, and returned to the character for a one-shot story in 1995. In 2005, Dynamite Entertainment began publishing stories of the heroine, during which the original Sonja was killed and replaced by a "reincarnation", who once again met Spider-Man in 2007. The series was rebooted by writer Gail Simone in 2013, telling an altered version of Red Sonja's early life story via flashbacks. Subsequent writers of Red Sonja have included Amy Chu, Mark Russell, Luke Lieberman, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner, among others.
Red Sonja has appeared in numerous titles, both as a solo protagonist and together with Conan, as well as in crossovers with characters from Marvel Comics and Dynamite Comics. A total of six Red Sonja novels were published from 1981 to 1983 by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney. A Red Sonja feature film, starring Brigitte Nielsen in the title role, was released in 1985, while a reboot film starring Matilda Lutz was released in 2025.
Sonja's signature clothing is her bikini armor, consisting typically of scale mail. In 2011, Red Sonja was ranked first in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
Red Sonja was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially based on Red Sonya, a female swashbuckler from "The Shadow of the Vulture".
Red Sonja debuted in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #23 (1973). Thomas created a new origin story and transposed the timeline from the 16th century of Howard's original Red Sonya to the Hyborian Age, another Howard creation, to have Sonja interact with Conan the Barbarian. In 1975, Marvel Comics published the first issue of Marvel Feature vol. 2 that was headlined by Red Sonja. The seven issues featuring Red Sonja were written by Roy Thomas and Bruce Jones. From #2 on, Frank Thorne provided the art for the series. In 1977, the character received her own, self-titled series. The fifteen issues of Red Sonja were written by Clair Noto and Thomas, with art by Frank Thorne (#1–11), and later on, pencils by John Buscema (#12–13, 15) and Sal Buscema (#14), who were inked by Joe Rubinstein, Al Milgrom and Tony De Zuniga.
Red Sonja's origin story was told in the story "The Day of the Sword" in the Marvel magazine Kull and the Barbarians #3 (1975), written by Roy Thomas and Doug Moench and illustrated by Howard Chaykin. The same story was later redrawn by Dick Giordano and Terry Austin and published in the magazine The Savage Sword of Conan #78 (July 1982). In this version, Red Sonja lives with her family in the Western Hyrkanian steppes. When she is 21, a group of mercenaries kills her family and burns down their house. Sonja attempts to defend herself, but cannot lift her brother's sword. She is raped by the leader of the group. Answering her cry for revenge, the red goddess Scáthach appears to her and gives her incredible fighting skills, on the condition that she never lie with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat. In the story "Sword of the She-Devil" Marvel Team-Up #79 (December 1979), Red Sonja is reborn in the present-day of Earth-616 when her sword is found by her descendant/reincarnation Mary Jane "MJ" Watson (love interest of Peter Parker / Spider-Man).
In 1983, Marvel Comics published a second Red Sonja series, a two-issue story written by Christy Marx and Roy Thomas, with art by Tony DeZuniga and Ernie Colón. The story also featured an appearance by the Robert E. Howard heroine Valeria.
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Red Sonja
Red Sonja is a sword-and-sorcery character created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for American comic books published by Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. A warrior from the Hyborian Age of Earth-616, she was often partnered with Conan the Barbarian.
Marvel Comics published stories featuring Red Sonja until 1986, and returned to the character for a one-shot story in 1995. In 2005, Dynamite Entertainment began publishing stories of the heroine, during which the original Sonja was killed and replaced by a "reincarnation", who once again met Spider-Man in 2007. The series was rebooted by writer Gail Simone in 2013, telling an altered version of Red Sonja's early life story via flashbacks. Subsequent writers of Red Sonja have included Amy Chu, Mark Russell, Luke Lieberman, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner, among others.
Red Sonja has appeared in numerous titles, both as a solo protagonist and together with Conan, as well as in crossovers with characters from Marvel Comics and Dynamite Comics. A total of six Red Sonja novels were published from 1981 to 1983 by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney. A Red Sonja feature film, starring Brigitte Nielsen in the title role, was released in 1985, while a reboot film starring Matilda Lutz was released in 2025.
Sonja's signature clothing is her bikini armor, consisting typically of scale mail. In 2011, Red Sonja was ranked first in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
Red Sonja was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially based on Red Sonya, a female swashbuckler from "The Shadow of the Vulture".
Red Sonja debuted in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #23 (1973). Thomas created a new origin story and transposed the timeline from the 16th century of Howard's original Red Sonya to the Hyborian Age, another Howard creation, to have Sonja interact with Conan the Barbarian. In 1975, Marvel Comics published the first issue of Marvel Feature vol. 2 that was headlined by Red Sonja. The seven issues featuring Red Sonja were written by Roy Thomas and Bruce Jones. From #2 on, Frank Thorne provided the art for the series. In 1977, the character received her own, self-titled series. The fifteen issues of Red Sonja were written by Clair Noto and Thomas, with art by Frank Thorne (#1–11), and later on, pencils by John Buscema (#12–13, 15) and Sal Buscema (#14), who were inked by Joe Rubinstein, Al Milgrom and Tony De Zuniga.
Red Sonja's origin story was told in the story "The Day of the Sword" in the Marvel magazine Kull and the Barbarians #3 (1975), written by Roy Thomas and Doug Moench and illustrated by Howard Chaykin. The same story was later redrawn by Dick Giordano and Terry Austin and published in the magazine The Savage Sword of Conan #78 (July 1982). In this version, Red Sonja lives with her family in the Western Hyrkanian steppes. When she is 21, a group of mercenaries kills her family and burns down their house. Sonja attempts to defend herself, but cannot lift her brother's sword. She is raped by the leader of the group. Answering her cry for revenge, the red goddess Scáthach appears to her and gives her incredible fighting skills, on the condition that she never lie with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat. In the story "Sword of the She-Devil" Marvel Team-Up #79 (December 1979), Red Sonja is reborn in the present-day of Earth-616 when her sword is found by her descendant/reincarnation Mary Jane "MJ" Watson (love interest of Peter Parker / Spider-Man).
In 1983, Marvel Comics published a second Red Sonja series, a two-issue story written by Christy Marx and Roy Thomas, with art by Tony DeZuniga and Ernie Colón. The story also featured an appearance by the Robert E. Howard heroine Valeria.